One Of Our Own
by Belen09
Summary: The year is 2114, and Mary Reed has just delivered her first-born, a daughter named Madeline Elizabeth Reed named for both her own, and her husband, Lieutenant Stuart Reed's mothers. He had however, wished for a son to carry on the family name . . .


One Of Our Own

The year is 2114, and Mary Reed has just delivered her first-born child, a daughter to be named Madeline Elizabeth after the first names of her own and her husband, Lieutenant Stuart Reed's mothers. Problem was, the Royal Navy officer really wanted a son to carry on the family name.

None (other than the obvious), R, AU

OOOOO

A.N. Just a little something that has been 'bugging me' for a while – had to play with it . . .

June 27, 2114

Mary Reed's 'waters' had broken at a very inconvenient time – during a Royal Navy fete, hosted by none other than the Fleet Admiral Malcolm Mickelson, who wished the embarrassed parents – Lieutenant Stuart Reed and the aforementioned Mary, the best of wishes as they were whisked by ambulance to St. Catherine's Maternity Hospital, which was the favorite place for Royal Navy offspring to be born in the south-eastern region of Britain.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Mary was immediately taken by the attending physicians into the birthing center as she was clearly in active labor; the lieutenant was left to wait with other expectant fathers, some of whom had decided to begin some kind of card game mainly to keep their minds off the impending births. Reed did not join in, although a couple of the participants were also Royal Navy – they were common seamen – and officers did not fraternize with the lower ranks.

Actually Stuart Reed was not in the mood to either worry about or celebrate the birth of his child – he knew for a certainty the sex of this child – it would be female – and he was disappointed because of it. A female child probably would not pass down the family name of Reed, and he wanted very much so, to be able to say that he had 'done his duty' in that regard. He had begun to despair that he would never have a son.

Mary had already had two miscarriages; both of the fetuses had been male – so when the third pregnancy came along – he dared not mention his disappointment. Testing had been done to determine the cause of the problem, and it was _mentioned_ that the fault lie with his genetics. Stuart clearly was of the opinion that this could not be true – the Reed family was 'of quality', and clearly something had been done improperly to have arrived at such a conclusion.

Biological science was not his forte – so when the doctors began discussing that his Y chromosome was not of a viable type, the Royal Naval officer found their discussions of little interest. Reed believed that once Mary had had a child, albeit female, all this nonsense about Y chromosomes would be moot. Mary just needed a little urging to produce the much-needed son to carry on the Reed name. (The lieutenant also forbade any discussion with Mary of his 'problem' . . .)

(Reeds and the women that they had wed - belonged to families who had served in the Royal Navy for centuries, dating to before the time of the English destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588. As such, it was a select group of people who were considered suitable to be potential marital partners. Admirals and captains populated the Reed family line – the proper place for a Reed was to serve the crown; this new-fangled notion of traveling out in space would soon fade . . .)

Lieutenant Stuart Reed's thoughts were interrupted by a nurse coming into the waiting area and announcing that Mary had given birth to a daughter. When asked by the other men in the room about names – spoken in a jocular manner – he replied, 'Madeline Elizabeth Reed' – but was thinking about what would be proper for a son's name . . .

OOOOO

The following year, Mary Reed again became pregnant, and unfortunately again, miscarried. And testing again showed that the fetus was male, and the concurrent testing of Stuart Reed's sperm showed a fatal genetic flaw which made any kind of natural process producing a male heir extremely unlikely. And Mary's doctor went so far as to question whether 'Lieutenant Reed' was not being abusive toward his wife. The man was summarily fired by Reed, who decided to give his wife 'a year off' to recuperate.

Two years went by with the same result – by now Mary was becoming more and more resentful of her now Lieutenant Commander husband. In fact, she stated to his face that no matter what the outcome, one more attempted pregnancy and that would be it. At that point, Stuart Reed decided to check into alternative methods to ensure the viability of his offspring. One could say that he was becoming desperate.

Medical ethics have never been 'hard and fast'; indeed what is considered unethical at one point, maybe ethical a few years later – say that of transplantation of organs, while in other instances (somewhat rarer) something ethical becomes unethical when the ramifications of the procedure are thoroughly examined. Stuart Reed's problem fell into the latter category as he could have children, just not the sex he desired.

However, he wasn't one to take no for an answer and he began to investigate what could be done; there had been discreet 'hints' from certain sources that something could be done about his situation. Hints, that certain doctors were experimenting with procedures to ensure the vitality of the unborn child . . . Adding just a bit of genetic manipulation to increase the 'all over fitness' of the unborn child . . . Reed considered his reasons to be just and needful – he would have a son to carry on the family name and reputation.

The doctor he chose to consult was a Dr. Soong . . .

OOOOO

Mary Reed's last pregnancy was successful; she gave birth to a son, although it was noted that the child did seem to be plagued by allergies. This problem was tempered by the obvious intelligence of the lad, whom Stuart had insisted on naming after Fleet Admiral Mickelson, Malcolm Stuart Alexander Reed – a name which he hoped would be remembered in the annals of Royal Naval history.

OOOOO


End file.
